With just four Live Oaks (Quercus agrifolia nee) in my backyard, I will usually rake up 2 to 3 wheelbarrow loads of acorns every fall. Until I started reading about Maidu Native Americans that lived in the Granite Bay area of California, I hadn’t considered acorns as a food source. After I had documented numerous Native American acorn grinding-hole sites around Folsom Lake, I figured that I should try and prepare some acorn mush that was a staple of the Native American diet prior to the gold rush of the 1850s.

Since the beginning of Covered California, many individuals and families have complained that some doctors refuse to accept health insurance purchased through Covered California. Most health insurance companies have stated that contracted network doctors can’t refuse to see Covered California members. However, Blue Shield of California seems to have changed their position on doctors refusing service. They are now stating, as of November 7th, that doctors can discriminate against individuals and families who have Covered California plans.

Suicide is a worldwide problem that affects over a million people each year, and in the U.S. there are varying age groups that suffer. It can be difficult to know where to begin in helping someone who has attempted suicide, in part because there is such a stigma surrounding it; however, if someone you care about has attempted to harm themselves and you fear it might happen again, there are signs you can watch for and things you can do to help.

Even with the Obamacare subsidies, many individuals and families still opt for the least expensive Bronze high deductible health plans. The high deductible health plans require the consumer to spend $4,500 to $6,500 in a medical deductible before any real cost sharing with the health insurance company starts. As more consumers opt for these least expensive Bronze plans more insurance companies are creating insurance products to help cover the high deductible of these plans. But are these indemnity plans worth the money and will they actually pay when you need the money?

It took me a long time to realize that the old adage of “It’s not what you know, but who you know” with respect to success was a crock of crap. Regardless of what or who you know, if you can’t produce something that people will consume, you will never be successful. The connections help get in you in the door. But if you can’t produce results, service, or products, you will be of little value to your associates.

Both the health plans and the doctors practice subtle and overt forms of discrimination against people with Covered California health insurance. Some of the discrimination is legally built into the health plans. Other discrimination takes place in the form of denying health care services because the prospective patient has a Covered California health plan.

Covered California is cancelling the Advance Premium Tax Credit subsidy that lowers a household’s monthly health insurance premium for 2016 for some consumers. Through Covered California’s automatic renewal process I’ve seen several families’ tax credits disappear for 2016. Without intervention or explanation, many families who had their health insurance automatically renewed may receive a bill for the full premium amount because the tax credit subsidy was eliminated by Covered California.

Covered California has finally been able to include family dental plan enrollment to consumers who have purchased a health plan through the exchange. The dental plans overall are pretty good but they come with some conditions that limit suitability for all families.

Individual and family plans offered through Covered California in 2016 will include new pharmacy prescription drug benefits. The benefit, also mirrored in many off-exchange health plans, caps the amount a consumer must pay every month for a particular prescription. While that sounds straight forward, the rules surrounding any pharmacy deductible and tiered drug formulary can be complicated and confusing.

Every family is unique in their health care needs. There are situations when each family member may require a different health plan to meet their particular health challenges. Unfortunately, many families who enroll in a health plan through Covered California are unaware that not all the family must be on the same health plan.